The race for the future of the former Ilva enters the most delicate phase with the offers that have arrived on the table of the extraordinary commissioners. On one side Jindal, on the other the Italian Arvedi, who thus chooses to break away from the Federacciai consortium and put forward a proposal which however remains subordinate to a resounding "Yes" from the institutions and population of Taranto. For the Indian group this is a return, given that it had participated in the first tender launched in July 2024, while for the Cremona company the solo offer represents something new.
"We felt like Italians, steel entrepreneurs and Christian entrepreneurs to make our offer", said the founder of the group Giovanni Arvedi, specifying however that the proposal remains "subject to some conditions precedent". These include the approval and appreciation of the industrial plan by the institutions and population of Taranto, but also of the environmental, employment and social prospects.
Although the details of the offers are not yet known, Jindal had already made it known that he had updated his proposal taking into account the stop in the hot area and ensuring that he was able to create an electric oven. As for Arvedi, its objective would be to build two electric furnaces, in two successive steps, with Esp (Endless Strip Production) technology, already used in Cremona and which allows liquid steel to be transformed into thin strips through a continuous process, without having to cool and then heat the material.
Already in 2016, Arvedi was part of the Acciaitalia consortium, which participated in the first tender of the first extraordinary administration of the former Ilva, which was then won by ArcelorMittal. In the early stages of this latest tender, the group was among the companies of the Italian consortium led by Fedracciai, from which it then chose to break away. An initiative that the president of Federacciai Antonio Gozzi does not hesitate to defend, while praising Arvedi's decision.
"The consortium represented an act of national responsibility and the Italian steel industry could not remain indifferent", he explained, reiterating that "the work of the consortium was not in vain". According to Gozzi, in fact, some companies are already committed to the continuity of slab supplies and "others have expressed their willingness to collaborate on the project". For the metalworkers' unions, Arvedi's offer represents something new but also an "important step", although it is still too early to make an evaluation.
"It is necessary to know in detail the contents of the offers received - explained Fim, Fiom and Uilm -. It is essential that the government summons the trade union organizations to Palazzo Chigi as soon as possible". A request also shared by the general secretary of the CISL Daniela Fumarola, although she clarified how it is "important that there is a large Italian group". According to the USB, the question of the sale takes a back seat if it is not possible to understand "which industrial project the Italian State finally intends to build for the national steel industry".
The other priority is in fact employment. Tomorrow at the Ministry of Labor the meeting with the unions continues regarding the examination of the request for extraordinary layoffs for a maximum of 8,622 former Ilva workers, which the company communicated last 17 October. Once the first knot of the tender has also been resolved, with the offers that it is now up to the commissioners to evaluate, the next steps will be discussed in the next meeting between the government and the social partners which, according to the commitments set by the government during the last round table at the end of October, is scheduled for mid-November.
